Circuit making and breaking device.



No. 658,792. Patented Oct. 2, I900. P. M. LINCOLN.

CIRCUIT MAKING AND BREAKING DEVICE.

(Application filed Oct. 19, 1898.) (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet l.

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No. 658,792. Patented Oct. 2, I900; P. M. LINCOLN.

CIRCUIT MAKING ANDv BREAKING DEVICE.

(Application filed Oct. 19, 1898.)

(No Model.) I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

C aw 1 W/TNESSES INVENTOH we News pawns co. wommuo. WASHINGTON, o c.

UNITED STATES.

PATENT OFFICE.

PAUL M. LINCOLN, OF NIAGARA FALLS, NEYV YORK.

CIRCUIT MAKING AND BREAKING DEVICE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 658,792, dated October2, 1900.

" Application filed October 19, 1898. Serial. No. 694,022. \No model.)

To ctZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, PAUL M. LINCOLN,a citizen of the United States,residing in Niagara Falls, in the county of Niagara and State of NewYork, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Circuit Making andBreaking Devices, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to mechanism for making and breaking electricalcircuits; and it has for its object to provide an inexpensive andefficient device which shall operate to automatically make and break anelectrical circuit at approximately regular intervals of time.

I My invention is designed for such auto matic and regular operation aswill insure an opencircuit condition during intervals of time the lengthof which will be predetermined and a closed-circuit condition of onlysu'liicient duration to enable the circuit-opening force to act. It willbe understood, however, that the circuit may be kept closed duringperiods of greater or less length by means of suitable looking orretarding devices, if desired.

My invention was primarily designed for use in connection withelectromagnets employed for effecting longitudinal reciprocatingmovements of armature shafts of electrical machines in order to insureuniformity of wear of the commutator cylinder and brushes, and forconvenience it will be illustrated and described in such relations. Idesire it to be understood, however, that the invention is of moregeneral application, and, in fact, that it is not limited to use withany specific machines or apparatus.

It will be obvious to any one skilled in the art to which the inventionpertains that the device will be operative and useful in any electriccircuit the opening and closing of which antomaticallyat predeterminedintervals is an object to be desired.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a view showing the circuitmaking and breaking device in front elevation and a rotary transformerinside elevation connected thereto. Figv 2 is a view, partially in sideeleva tion and partially in longitudinal section, of the circuit makingand breaking device shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a front elevation of amodified form of circuit makingand breaking device, a portionintermediate the ends being broken away. Fig. 4 is a view, partiallyinside elevation and partially in longitudinal section, of the deviceshown in Fig. 3, a portion of the same intermediate its ends beingbroken away.

Referring particularly to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, 1 is a baseplate or slab of suitable non-conducting material provided with a pairof binding-posts 2 and 3 and with suitable wiring either concealed inthe body of the base-plate or located at its back, such wiring beingindicated by broken lines. Mounted upon the front of the base-plate 1 insuitable supporting standards or brackets 4. is a solenoid 5, the core 6of which is provided with a downwardly-project-ing rod or stem '7. Therod or stem 7 is provided near its lower end with a perforated piston Sand at its extreme end with a head 9. A plate 10 is mounted upon thestem to slide freely thereon between the piston and the head 9. Thepiston S is located in an open-top cylinder 11, which is rigidly mountedin suitable brackets or standards 12 on the base-plate 1. This cylinder11 will preferably be partially filled with a suitable liquid in orderthat it may cooperate with the piston 8 to serve as a dashpot in awell-known manner. Provision for a limited flow of liquid from the spacebelow to the space above the piston 8 when the piston is descending andthe piston-perforations are covered by the plate 10 is made by means ofa passage 13, a movable sleeve 14E being also provided in order toregulate the amount of such flow by partially covering the outlet ofpassage 13, if desired. I make no claim to novelty in the dash-potconstruction, it being illustrated and described as merely indicative ofany suitable known form of movementretarding device. One terminal of thesolenoid 5 is connected to the binding-post 3, and the other terminal isconnected to the standard 15, having a pivot-pin 16, on which is mountedan arm 17. One end of this arm 17 is provided with a socket 18, in whichis located a carbon pencil 19, the length of the arm being such thatwhen in its horizontal position, as indicatedin Fig. l, the lower end ofthe pencil will be in contact with a similar carbon pencil 20, held in astationary socket 21, the latter being electrically connected tobinding-post 2. The other end of the arm 17, extending in the oppositedirection from the pivoted pin 16, is screw-threaded and provided with athumb-nut 22 to serve as an adjustable counterbalance. Directly over thepivot-pin 16 the arm 17 is provided with a weight 23, that serves whenthe arm is in the position shown in Fig. 1 to hold it in that positionprovided that no force other than gravity is exerted upon the arm toturn it upon its pivot. This weight 23 serves also to hold the arm 17 inits dotted-line position against the stop 23 and tends to move the armto that position when it has been raised sufficiently to carry theweight over the dead-center. "he arm 17 is provided between the weight23 and the carbon pencil 18 with a suitable opening through whichprojects the stem 7, the latter being provided with two adjustablecollars 24; and 25, one of which is above and the other below the arm.These collars serve, respectively, to enthe upper and lower sides of thearm and so move it as to open and close the circuit. 7 I

is kept open and closed may obviously be adjusted by suitably adjustingthe collars longitudinally on the stem. The rotary transformer 26, whichis shown merely to indicate one practical use for the circuit making andbreaking device,is so constructed thatits shaft 27, on which are mountedthe armature, commutator-cylinder, and contact-rings, is free to movelongitudinally sufiiciently to insure contact of the brushes with allportions of the cooperating rotary elements longitudinally,so as toequalize the wear thereon. In order to insure this longitudinalreciprocatory movement, an electroinagnet 28 is mounted on the frameadjacent to one end of the shaft, one terminal of the coil 29 of whichis connected to the positive brushes, the other terminal being connectedto the binding-post 2 of the circuit making and breaking device, and theother binding-post 3 being connected to the negative brushes of thetransformer. Assuming that the several parts are in the positionsindicated in the drawings and that the rotary transformer 26 is inoperation a current will be sent through the magnet-coil 29 to thebinding-post 2 through the carbon contact-pencils 20 and 19, the arm 17,its pivot-pin 16 and standard 15, the solenoid 5, and binding-post 3,back to the negative brushes. This current will energize the solenoid,which will in turn instantly raise its core until the collar 25 strikesthe arm 17 and moves the pencil 19 away from pencil 20. Since thedash-pot piston 8 is perforated and the plate 10 is free to slide on thestem, the resistance of the dash-pot to the lifting of the solenoid-coreis very slight. The action of the electroinagnet 28 will be obviouslysuch as to exert a sudden pull upon the shaft of the rotary transformer,this action ceasing the instant the circuit is opened. As soon as thepull ceases ne time-intervals during which the circuit the shaft willrecede in the opposite d i reciion, and a longitudinal movement back andforth will therefore result. Since this reciprocatory movement graduallygrows less, it would cease altogether if a force were not again exertedto pull the shaft in the one direction or in the other. This force willbe exerted at the proper time by reason of the fact that thesolenoid-core will begin to descend by the action of gravity as soon asthe circuit is opened, this movement being slow on account of the actionof the dash-pot. As the core descends the collar 24 comes intoengagement with the arm 17 and moves it and its carbon pencil downwarduntil the latter comes again into engagement with the stationary pencil,when the action above described will be repeated.

As has already been indicated, the length of time during which thecircuit remains open may be regulated by a proper adjustment of thesleeve 1% on the stem 7, so as to cover or uncover to a greater or lessextent the upper end of passage 13.

Referring now to Figs. 3 and 1-, the baseplate 1, liinding-posts 2 and3, and the wiring are substantially the same as in the constructionalready described. In this form, however, the bindingpost 3 is connectedto a cup or tube 30, filled or partially filled with morcury, into whichprojects a stem 31, provided with a collar or enlargement 32. This stem31 projects through a suitable opening in the lever 17 and is providedat its upper end with a head 33 of magnetizable material. A stem 34:projects upward from the solenoid-core 6 and is rigidly fastened to thecylinder 14 of a dash-pot, which cylinder is of conducting material andobviously moves with the core of the solenoid. The construction of thedashpot piston 8 and its stem 7 may be the same as already described inconnection with Figs. 1 and 2, except that they are stationary. Thesleeve 13 for varying the degree of movement retardation may be the samein structure and mode of operation as the sleeve 13. Mounted upon thebase-plate 1, adjacent to the dash-pot, is a cup or tube 35, of suitableconducting material and filled or partially filled with mercury, aterminal rod or strip 36 being mechanically and electrically connectedto the dash-pot cylinder let and projecting at one end into the mercuryin the tube. The operation of this form of the device is as follows:Assuming that the parts are in the positions indicated in the drawings,current will pass from the source (not shown) to the binding-post 2,thence to and through the stationary contact-terminal 20, the movableterminal 19, the arm 17, pivot-pin 16, and standard 15, the solenoid 5,the mercury cup ortube 35, the rod or strip 36, the dash-pot cylinder14, the stem 34-, and solenoid-core 6, the head 33, stem 31, mercury andcup 30, to binding-post 3 and out. The solenoid-core being raised by theaction of the coil will carry with it the stem 31, by reason of the factthat the head 33 is magnetized until the collar or enlargement 32strikes the arm 17 and tilts it on its pivot 16, so as to separate thecarbon pencils 19 and 20. As soon as this separation takes place thecore 6 will be demagnetized to a sufficient extent to drop the head 33into the position shown in the drawings, and the arm 17 will also assumethe position shown in the drawings. The circuit will not be closed,however, since the counterbalance is not adjusted to hold the arm inopen position until the solenoid-core has moved downward sufficiently toagain come into engagement with the head 33 on the stem 31, thisdownward movement obviously being slow by reason of the action of thedash-pot.

While the construction just described is not as simple as that shown inFigs. 1 and 2, it eflfects the same result and in substantially the sameway, except that the circuit is closed by the engagement of the lowerend of the solenoid-core with the top of the head 33 of stem 31, insteadof being closed by means of the circuit-interrupting carbon-pencils.

While I have shown and described specific apparatus for practicing myinvention, I desire it to be understood that the number, form, andrelative location of parts may be varied to suit the ideas of thedesigner or manufacturer without departing from the spirit and scope ofmy invention, and hence I do not desire or intend to limit my claims inthis or other particulars any further than may be necessary by reason ofthe state of the art. It will also be understood that an electromagnethaving a stationary core and a movable armature may be used in lieu ofthe solenoid and movable core shown and that the device supplied withinterrupted current may be in shunt instead of in series with the sourceof current and the circuitbreaking coil.

I claim as my invention- J p 1. In a circuit opening and closing devicefor electric circuits, the combination with a stationary terminal, of acooperating movable terminal, a solenoid and a core therefor, a rod orstem provided with tripping projections on opposite sides of saidmovable terminal and movable with said core, and means for retarding theoutward or downward move ment of said rod orstem.

2. In acircuit opening and closing device, the combination with astationary carbon terminal, of a pivoted, normally-horizontal arm having'a cooperating carbon terminal and means for holding said arm normallyin either open or closed position, a solenoid, a core for said solenoidhaving a stem provided with two projections for respectively moving thepivoted arm to its open and to its closed position, and a dash-pothaving one of its members connected to said stem whereby thecircuit-closing movement of the core and stem is retarded.

3. In a circuit opening and closing device, the combination with astationary terminal, of a horizontal, pivoted arm having a cooperatingterminal at one end and a weight at or near the other end, amagnet-coil, a movable core or armature actuated by said coil whenenergized, a rod or stem having projections adapted to engage said arm,and means connected to the rod or stem for retarding its movement in onedirection.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto subscribed my name this l3th day ofOctober, 1898.

PAUL M. LINCOLN.

Witnesses:

JASON A. JOHNSON, JAMES L. LAFFERTY.

